State of the Union

I watched the State of the Union address last night.  I generally don't watch Obama's speeches because generally they're all hot air, but I make an exception for the State of the Union.  It would take more than I feel like writing to go into details, but I thought it was interesting how quickly he (or at least his lips) shifted to the political middle, all the while trying to make it seem like these were novel ideas he had come up with.

I'd like to think it's because the recession is ending and the spending he initiated really was an anomaly for a troubled time, to be followed by fiscal responsibility and government efficiency.  But I have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with the Republican majority in the House and an upcoming election.  Look for him to try to ride any successes from his opposition to another term in office.

Also, is it just me, or did the whole scene seem less impressive in HD than it used to in SD?  I felt like I could see everyone so closely that they were just regular people, in a somewhat unimpressive room.  Or maybe it's just my disillusionment continuing to grow with age.

One last thing, did you notice the expression on John Boehner's face?  Watching him almost made the whole thing enjoyable.

Refinance

I consider myself very lucky to have graduated and gotten a job with relative ease when I did, because the economy tanked just a year or so later and I'm sure things would have been much more difficult then.  One of the drawbacks, however, was that we bought a house in the boom market.  We bought in a very affordable area at least, but of course had little say in the interest rate on our mortgage.

At 6% it was pretty reasonable, especially in historical terms, but after the housing bubble burst I kept hearing about ultra-low rates and when talk in December started to be about rates bottoming out and going back up I realized I'd been procrastinating too long and finally decided to refinance.  I'd been putting it off because I didn't want to deal with the hassle, but it turned out to be relatively simple.  I called up the bank, gave them some information, they locked in a rate, sent us some paperwork, we signed and returned it, and eventually they sent a notary to our house to have us sign the final paperwork.

In the end we reduced our rate to 4.5% over 20 years.  We had already knocked two extra years (and lots of interest) off our original 30-year mortgage through principal payments, but this reduced our remaining interest by 40% and shortened payments another 5 years.  Our monthly payment even went down $16.  Since the closing costs were rolled into the new loan, the only fee we had to pay besides the toil of a few phone calls and signing papers was $70 to the notary.  Not a bad trade off.

Olivia

I can't blog from work anymore, so I'm trying to catch up on some thoughts I've had recently.

We were watching Aladdin the other week, it must have been during the break or on a Saturday because we rarely watch videos in the evening.  We were right in the middle of the exciting first Genie song where Robin Williams is introducing his spastic self when Olivia said, "This movie is too long," and wandered off to do something else.  I like that she isn't trapped by the TV (yet).

We also started implementing a finish-your-dinner policy to counteract an everything-is-yucky-I-don't-want-to-eat-this-even-though-I-don't-know-what-it-is offensive launched by Olivia recently which has shown signs of adoption on the Carmen front.

The first battle lasted a half hour, and Olivia went through every trick in the book -- saying she didn't want it, saying she'd skip her treat, trying to slip away, trying to run away, crying, moping, you name it.  It reminded me of the scene from Monster's Inc. where Randall is getting hit and changes color with every blow.  She eventually surrendered, but of course this was just the opening salvo.

The second battle lasted well over an hour and ended with a detainment in a prisoner-of-war bedroom with standard issue pajamas.  There was much screaming.

We had a few non-standard dinners right after that, but the memory must not have faded because she hasn't given us too much grief since then, although multiple verbal reminders of the consequences of not eating are often still necessary.  Although sometimes we can just bribe them with broccoli to eat their main course.  Whatever works.

Shared room

While I refloored the attic over the Christmas break, most of the stuff that had previously been in the attic was stacked all over Olivia's room.  We figured with the baby coming and no need to get up in the morning it was a good time to get the girls used to sleeping in the same room together.

I wasn't sure how it would go, but they loved it.  A little too much, in fact.  The first few nights it took them a couple hours to get to sleep.  They were having too much fun talking and playing and turning on the lights and climbing in and out of Carmen's crib.  They didn't argue at all about going to bed each night.

They're a little better now, and it usually only takes one or two return trips to remind them to be quiet and go to sleep.  On the plus side, it makes bedtime a lot more streamlined, since now it only takes one of us to read books to both of them.

I like that they're starting to like each other and really play together now.  Carmen is finally old enough to be interesting to Olivia and they're starting to entertain each other occasionally instead of relying solely on me from the time I get home.  Amber says they obviously miss each other, too, when Olivia goes to preschool or Carmen takes a nap.

They have complementary personalities with Olivia being the bossy older sister and Carmen being the willing follower (but who will very firmly stand her ground if she disagrees) and I think they will have lots of fun together.

Christmas Card

For those of you who weren't privileged enough to get a late Christmas card from us, here's an even later electronic version.  Merry New Year.

See you later, alligator

I wanted to blog about something Olivia said and found a draft with a few more.  The first one is from Sunday, the rest from a couple months ago.

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[On our very short drive to church, without having said anything thus far]
Olivia: I guess I'll stop talking like an alligator now.

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Olivia:  I want a piece of candy.
Me: But you just said you were full!
Olivia: I still have room left in my toes.

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[Said in all seriousness]
Amber: Finish all your potatoes, then you can have some broccoli!

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Me: Why are you yelling?
Olivia: I'm not yelling I'm whining!

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